Winter camping help

[Rabiesbabies]

Hello everyone, i'm very new to camping. Pretty much just want a toy hauler for the winter. But need help with some questions. I go out west snowmobiling in the winter,and I'm looking to get get a toy hauler so I can just pack up and go when I please. To my understanding I should find one with a winter package. But seems hard to find one I like used. Is it even possible to go out in the winter if I do not have one with a winter package? Also any other advice would help being I've never even been camping before. Thanks!

[N-Trouble]

I would invest in a new trailer.

30lb a day is plain crazy...

[Bedlam]

Weekend Warrior and insulation are not words you use together unless you are the one adding it. We don't go to extremes to block out windows and vents because we needed the ventilation to keep down moisture and we like to be able to see out the windows rather than be in a dark box. I know there are people that are very frugal with resources and go much longer on the same, but we bought the RV for comfort and use it more like a second home rather than a lesson in conservationism. We camp with animals so even if we are away for most of the day, the RV is still heated or cooled for them when they stay behind. We're out about twice a month year round with many 3-night trips allowing for getaways while still working 40+ hours and commuting an additional 10 hrs each week.

[shum02]

Bedlam wrote:

shum02 wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
30# of propane a day? That seems really high. What temperature is comfortable? Is this winter camping in the Yukon?

I guess maybe a TH looses a lot of heat via the garage door?

Most propane usage I have heard of is about 1lb per hour at 100%. 30 hours of furnace time on a 30lb bottle. That would turn my unit into an oven.

LPG was not for just the furnace. It kept the fridge cold, water hot and food cooked.

It's still an enormous amount of propane only to keep a rig in the 60's. Again I've camped at -22F and would not even come close to that much propane/day even if JUST using the furnace alone to heat the rig and yes I also use propane to heat the water, run the fridge and cook the food.

I winter RV camp a LOT, fact is more than any other time during the year - no reservations, no bugs and best of all....no people. You do NOT need a top of the line 4 season "rated" rig to camp in it. Just some imagination and a can do attitude.

[Dirtclods]

GordonThree wrote:
30# of propane a day? That seems really high. What temperature is comfortable? Is this winter camping in the Yukon?

I guess maybe a TH looses a lot of heat via the garage door?

Nah.... no heat lost through the ramp door.

[Bedlam]

shum02 wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
30# of propane a day? That seems really high. What temperature is comfortable? Is this winter camping in the Yukon?

I guess maybe a TH looses a lot of heat via the garage door?

Most propane usage I have heard of is about 1lb per hour at 100%. 30 hours of furnace time on a 30lb bottle. That would turn my unit into an oven.

LPG was not for just the furnace. It kept the fridge cold, water hot and food cooked.

[Bedlam]

An open floor plan toy hauler with copious amounts of single-pane windows and minimal insulation in the walls and ceiling. It was built in SoCal most likely without regard to those dry camping in 10-20 degree weather and wanting to keep the interior in the upper 60's. The heater ran often enough to deplete the twin batteries daily and required three hours of generator run time to bring them back up for the next night. I could run the 5.5kw generator off the 40 gallon fuel tank with supplemental electric heat, but where we were staying was a state park with set generator hours and dry campsites with no utilities.

[shum02]

GordonThree wrote:
30# of propane a day? That seems really high. What temperature is comfortable? Is this winter camping in the Yukon?

I guess maybe a TH looses a lot of heat via the garage door?

Most propane usage I have heard of is about 1lb per hour at 100%. 30 hours of furnace time on a 30lb bottle. That would turn my unit into an oven.

[GordonThree]

30# of propane a day? That seems really high. What temperature is comfortable? Is this winter camping in the Yukon?

I guess maybe a TH looses a lot of heat via the garage door?

[Dirtclods]

Just in case get a couple of five gallon containers of water keep them inside you trailer.

[Bedlam]

Northwood's Desert Fox seems to be the best insulated toy hauler. We winter camped with our Weekend Warrior, but could easily run through one 30# LPG tank each day keeping it comfortable inside. I spent considerable time wrapping pipes up with insulation and adding Styrofoam insulation to exterior boxes so pipes would not freeze. We did not use the camper when winterized, I would run the furnace at 40-50 degrees while we towed it to keep it from freezing up. When we returned home, I would drain any remaining water in the tanks and water heater, blow out the lines and fixtures and dump some RV antifreeze in the traps.

[shum02]

I camp all the time in winter here in Norther Ontario and although a battle hardly the end of the world or even close to impossible.

I camp with the system in full operation in a rig barely 3 season campable by KZ. It does have a decently insulated and coroplast covered belly, with all walls and floors being about R7.

I have electrically heated pads on all the tanks and heat trace on the interior water lines.

Heat is mostly provided by three ceramic cube heaters doing "zone" heating with the propane furnace doing all the grunt work to get the rig up to temp and maintain it should the temps drop more than what the electric heaters can maintain(I have camped as low as -30C/-22F)

In so far as dumping the tanks I do that at home with a Flojet macerator. Don't need a clean out, just a convenient toilet if that is all that is available.

Lot's of other tricks to keep the cold out and the heat in from Relectix in the windows, carpets on the floor, heated mattress pads and so on. Also having at least a 3kw generator with you as well should power fail due to storms, which up North in my neck of the woods happens quite often.

It's not impossible, just challenging.

[GordonThree]

In Northern Michigan, most of my camping is during the winter, COLD winter.

Keeping your plumbing systems operational is a battle, but the bigger battle, is what to do with the holding tanks when it's time to dump them.

Cleanout at home? Nope, buried under 4-5ft of snow. Cleanout at a rest area? Nope, gated off until June. Cleanout at the RV park, gated off and buried under 4-5ft of snow.

Just something to think about.

For me, I try to heat with gasoline when possible, it's cheaper than propane and much easier to find refills. When I'm alone in a rustic campground, or just setup in the woods, the generator runs non stop.

[Ralph_Cramden]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Yes, you can successfully camp in winter-snowy weather in an RV, but in order to ensure your water lines do not freeze, the water system needs to be winterized. This is by far the safest way to ensure old man winter doesn't damage your system.

Then, you use water, very much like you would if you were tent camping. No running water inside the camper. Absolutely no water down the drains. Absolutely do not use the toilet. Why? Because water freezes, and then pipes break and valves burst.

If winter camper, we bring water with us, separate, in containers. (I now have a 35 gallon tank we use). Water is never flushed down the toilet. We use a port-a-potty and dump in in campground outhouses. We do not use chemicals in the port-a-potty, but we do dump it and rinse it every day.

We heat water on the stove, take cat-baths, and catch any water in the sink in a tub in the sink and then toss it out the door. (like brushing teeth, sponge bath, etc.)

Being in the Army a few years we had to learn to live with water only from a canteen and enough water to fill our helmets for bathing, brushing teeth, and anything else for personal hygiene. The advantage of an RV? You can heat the water on the stove first!

Cooking? Gas stove? Dishes? Wash in a tub and dump it outside or in a pit toilet, just like you would if you tent camped.

This is really the only sure-fire way to make sure no water freezes in your camper. 4 season campers means very little. If you are camping off the power grid, you need heated tanks, that takes power, LOTS of battery power. 4 season means the air ducts for the furnace run under the floor and along the water pipes, and that's all. There are reports of pipes freezing inside the coach, under cabinets, and right above the floor. Your best approach is to use the camper with absolutely no water in the tanks or the water system, just as if you were in a tent. This is how we do it. It works well for us, but ours is usually just a week-end jaunt. State Parks in Indiana have power at the campsites all year round. But after October 31, the water is shut off. So, no bath houses, no water at the dump stations, and those state parks with water at the sites, are turned off also. Bring it in, take it out! For us, this works.

X2
Buy a case of the cheap RV antifreeze at Wallys and use that to flush the turlet when needed. You can at least dump the pink stink out. It sucks taking a shower with it though.

[DutchmenSport]

Yes, you can successfully camp in winter-snowy weather in an RV, but in order to ensure your water lines do not freeze, the water system needs to be winterized. This is by far the safest way to ensure old man winter doesn't damage your system.

Then, you use water, very much like you would if you were tent camping. No running water inside the camper. Absolutely no water down the drains. Absolutely do not use the toilet. Why? Because water freezes, and then pipes break and valves burst.

If winter camper, we bring water with us, separate, in containers. (I now have a 35 gallon tank we use). Water is never flushed down the toilet. We use a port-a-potty and dump in in campground outhouses. We do not use chemicals in the port-a-potty, but we do dump it and rinse it every day.

We heat water on the stove, take cat-baths, and catch any water in the sink in a tub in the sink and then toss it out the door. (like brushing teeth, sponge bath, etc.)

Being in the Army a few years we had to learn to live with water only from a canteen and enough water to fill our helmets for bathing, brushing teeth, and anything else for personal hygiene. The advantage of an RV? You can heat the water on the stove first!

Cooking? Gas stove? Dishes? Wash in a tub and dump it outside or in a pit toilet, just like you would if you tent camped.

This is really the only sure-fire way to make sure no water freezes in your camper. 4 season campers means very little. If you are camping off the power grid, you need heated tanks, that takes power, LOTS of battery power. 4 season means the air ducts for the furnace run under the floor and along the water pipes, and that's all. There are reports of pipes freezing inside the coach, under cabinets, and right above the floor. Your best approach is to use the camper with absolutely no water in the tanks or the water system, just as if you were in a tent. This is how we do it. It works well for us, but ours is usually just a week-end jaunt. State Parks in Indiana have power at the campsites all year round. But after October 31, the water is shut off. So, no bath houses, no water at the dump stations, and those state parks with water at the sites, are turned off also. Bring it in, take it out! For us, this works.